Chicken Cafreal

Storing and Planning Ahead

Keeps in the fridge for 2 days. Reheat in a pan or a hot oven.

Making Chicken Cafreal

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1. Blend the coriander, chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, pepper, vinegar and salt to a thick, smooth paste.

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2. Slash the chicken pieces twice with a knife, rub with the paste and leave for 30 minutes.

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3. Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, with all the paste.

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4. Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the paste has dried to a coating.

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5. Serve with lime wedges.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Tips for Success

• Keep the heat at medium so the paste fries instead of burning.
• Use the tender coriander stalks as well as the leaves; they carry plenty of flavour.
• Check a thick piece is cooked by cutting into it; the juices should run clear.

Some Background

Salt the paste, not the chicken, and leave it for half an hour; everything else in the recipe depends on what that green paste has to do. Cafreal paste is made from a large bunch of fresh coriander, green chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin and a little vinegar, and it works as both marinade and sauce.

Blend it smooth with just enough vinegar to move the blades. A watery paste gives a boiled chicken. A thick one fries into a coating.

The colour is the thing to protect. Cook over a medium heat and do not cover for long. High heat and long cooking turn the paste from bright green to a dull khaki, though the flavour stays good.

Skin-on pieces on the bone stay juiciest. Cook them for 30 minutes in total, turning, until the paste has dried to a coating and the chicken is cooked through. Some cooks finish the pieces under the grill for a little char, which suits this dish well.

What to Put Next to It

Pao or soft bread rolls · Steamed rice · Sliced onion salad · Chips or fried potatoes

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Gluten-Free Naan, Idiyappam, Kerala Appam.

Ingredient Swaps

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Chicken Cafreal FAQ

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.

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